Utah Phillips discusses his song, "Miner's Lullaby," followed by bluegrass duo Jody Stecher and Kate Brislin performing his song. Miners would take a tin of morphine with them down in the shaft, in case of a cave in, or other disaster to ease the pain as they died. The lyrics of "Miner's Lullaby" are:
MINER'S LULLABY (Bruce 'Utah' Phillips)
Once, long ago, he was handsome and tall And fit to be called to the war We left our village, family and all To never return any more
Now he takes his coat, his bucket and lamp And whistles away to the cage Where men young and old from all over the camp Gather in search of a wage
Chorus: Husband, sleep, lay your head back and dream A slow fallen leaf borne down to the stream Then carried away on the wings of morphine Homeward far over the sea
My husband and I are Roman in faith And we have a secret to keep If ever his life is taken away Then gentle and long will he sleep
Now some men pass with family around And linens and blankets so clean But seldom a miner goes underground Without his tin of morphine
Chorus
And now here's a word, an explosion is heard The miners are trapped far below If any survived down there alive I'm certain we never will know
Although our families have vainly appealed No rescue attempt can be seen Our hope for loved ones in the dark earth sealed Now lies in a tin of morphine
"Blue" in Blue in the Bluegrass refers to my politics, not my state of mind, although being progressive-democratic in Kentucky is not for the faint of heart.
The Bluegrass Region of Kentucky is Central Kentucky, the area around Lexington. It's also sometimes known as the Golden Triangle, the region formed by Louisville in the west, Cincinnati in the north and Lexington in the east-south corner. This is the most economically advanced, politically progressive and aesthically beautiful area of the state. Also the most overpopulated by annoying yuppies and the most endangered by urban sprawl.
A Yellow Dog Democrat is one who will vote for even a yellow dog if it is running as a Democrat. I can't claim to be quite that fanatically partisan, especially since quite a few candidates who run as Democrats in Kentucky are more Republican than a lot of Republicans I can name.
But I do love the story Kentucky House leader Rocky Adkins never tires of telling about the old-timer in Eastern Kentucky who was once accused of being willing to vote for Satan if Satan ran as a Democrat. Spat back the old-timer:
"Not in a primary, I wouldn't!"
Amen.
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